Ben Askren to face Demian Maia in UFC Singapore headliner

Ben Askren to face Demian Maia in UFC Singapore headliner

Ben Askren will face Demian Maia in the main event of UFC Fight Night 162. The show is set for October 26th at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, a venue the former ONE Championship welterweight champion has already won three fights in.

Askren (19-1-0-1) has had an eventful UFC career to put it mildly. He finished Robbie Lawler with a bulldog choke at UFC 235 despite the former champion never tapping and was then knocked out by Jorge Masvidal with a flying knee at UFC 239.

By contrast Maia (27-9) is a veteran of 30 UFC fights, having made his promotional debut in 2007. The Brazilian has challenged unsuccessfully for the welterweight and middleweight titles and is riding a two fight winning streak.

On August 31st UFC on ESPN+ 15 is set for Shenzhen while UFC 242 takes place in Abu Dhabi on September 7th. There is also an event set for Busan on December 21st meaning that the promotion has four cards booked in Asia between now and the end of the year.

In 2017 UFC Fight Night 111 took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with Holly Holm facing Beth Correia in the main event event. Last year UFC Fight Night 132 was held in the same venue and was headlined by a bout between Leon Edwards and Donald Cerrone.

UFC Fight Night 162 will be the fourth event the promotion has held in Singapore. The first was UFC Fight Night 34 which took place at Marina Bay Sands in 2014 and was headlined by a fight pitting Hyung Gyu Lim against Tarec Saffiedine.